Andeews eockfellow



(No Modl.) A

A. ROGKPBLLOW.

GAN'PILLI'NG APPARATUS;

Patented Oct. 3,0, 1883..

- UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.-

ANDREWS ROOKFELLOW, EDEN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HLF TO AMMI H. CURTISS, OF SAME PLACE.

CAN-FILLING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters iatent No. 287,725, dated October 30, 1883. Application filed September 1.9, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ANDREWS RocKEELL LOW, a citizen of the United States, residing" at Eden, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Filling Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it, appertains to make and use,

the same, reference being had totheaccompa.- nying drawings, andto letters orngures of reference'marked thereon, which form a part of this specication. Y My invention relates more particularly to apparatus for filling cans with peas.A

It is a well-known fact that the peas, after being prepared for canning,are apt to clog in 'the hopper, owing to their increased weight 2o and softnes i The object of my invention is to facilitate the discharge of the peas from the hopperl to the can without injury thereto; and to that end it consists in a novel combination of de- 2 5 vices, which will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vfront elevagtion of my improved apparatus with portions broken away, to show interior construction.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig.. 1. Fig. 3 is a front perspective view of the apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the hopper,-and Fig. 5 is a .detail view of the slide which operates i-n connection with the discharge-openin gs in the hopper.

Referring to the drawings, a is the framework, which supports the hopper and operative-mechanism. The hopper which I have herein shown as adapted for iilling two cans 4o simultaneously is located in the upper half of the frame-work a, and has the front vertical wall, b, the two side sloping walls, lfb', the

rear sloping wall, b2, and the angular parti'-,

tion If, which extends upwardly about onehalf, or a little less than one-half, of the height of the hopper. The sloping sides b b and b2 of the hopper and the sloping sides b4 b4 ofthe angular partition b3 converge to the two dis charge-openings cV c, through which the pea-s 5o pass to the cans.

d d are two agitators .loosely pivoted to the vertical front wall, b, at the 'points d d', lo cated above the center of such lwall b. These agitators d d consist' of narrow strips, preferably of metal, having the tapering ends d2 d2 55 extending down to a point just above the discharge-openings c c in the hopper upon cach of the agitators d d, and at a point about midway between their lower ends, d2 d2, and their pivots d d, and a short distance between the 6o angle of the dividing-partition b3, are located the tapering wings di d3, which extend in oppositeY directions from the agitators dY d at right angles thereto, and parallel to the front vertical wall b of the hopper. The upper ends of these agitators d d are loosely connected by the rod e. The agitator to the right has loosely attached to it, above the hopper, one end ofthe rod f, the other end of which is loosely secured to the upper arm of the bell- 7o crank lever g, pivoted to the Avertical wall b ofthe hopper at the point g. The other arm of this bell-crank lever g is connected `with the foot-treadle h by the rod k. The agitator to the left is connected withithe side vof the hopper by the coiled spring t'.

The mechanism just described is employed invibrating thel agitators d d within the hopper. Across the base of the hopper, just underneath its discharge-openings c c, and with- 8o 'in a suitable recess, Z, in the framework, (as

clearly shown in Fig. 5,) islocated the slide m, provided with the openings m m at such a distance apart that they will register-with the dischargeopenings c c.

lm2 is a projecting lug at oneend of the slidem, which lug extends out through an elongated slot, n., in the framework.

m m3 are short passages through the bot-- tom of the recess Z, immediately below the 9o discharge-openings c c.

o is a rod provided with an elongated eye, o', through which the lug m2 of the slide m extends. The'lefthand end of this rod o is secured to the upper end of the dat metal spring p, riveted at its lower end to the frame-work. The right-hand end of the rod o is 'loosely connected to the lower arm of the bell-crank lever q,pivoted at g to the wall b of the hopper. The upper arm of this bell-crank lever loo q is connected with the foottreadle h by the rod 1*. f By pressing the foot-treadleh the slide mis moved in its recess against the action of the spring p, which returns the slide to its normal position when the foot is raised from the treadle.

The operation of the mechanism described is substantially as follows: Thehopper is lled with the peas,which are in aproper condition for canning. Upon a shelf, s, extending across the frame-work underneath the hopper, are placed the two cans t t, the openings in the cans being directly underthe dischargeopenings c c and passages m3 mi. The treadle h being now depressed by the foot, the attached rod k serves, by means of the intervening mechanism, to turn the agitators slightly on their pivots, by means of which the lower tapering ends, di, and the tapering side wings, d d, effect a gentle displacement of the mass of peas at the discharge-openings, and just above them, thereby preventing the troublesome clogging (which is so liable to occur) without any material injury to the peas. In the same movement of the treadle the rod ris drawn down, and serves, by means of the inv tervening mechanism, to move the slide m until the openings mregisterwiththe dischargeopenings c c and the short passages m3 m3, thereby permitting the peas in the hopper to pass down into the cans placed belowfortheir reception. It will be noticed that the elongated eye o in the rod o is of such a length that the lu g m', and with it the slide m, of which it is a part, is not moved until afterthe agtators d d have commenced to turn on their axes, which has the effect of causing the agitation in the mass of peas just in advance of their release from the hopper, thus preparing them for a quick discharge into the cans without loss of time. It is apparent that by a proper duplication of parts the capacity of my improved apparatus can be increased, as desired.

I have herein shown the agitators d as each provided with a single pair of tapering wings d3 d, having found them in practice sufficient for the purpose, but it is apparent thatI might change their number, as well as their shape and location, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claiml. A can-iilling apparatus consisting, substantially, of the following instrumentalities,

viz: a hopper provided with one or more dis- 5 5 charge-openings, one or more pivoted winged agitators operating within the hopper at or near the discharge-openings, and a slide provided with an opening or openings acting in conjunction with the discharge-openings in the hopper, the winged agitators and slide being provided with suitable mechanism for operating them simultaneously, all arranged and combined substantially as shown and described.

2. In a can-lilling apparatus substantially as shown, one or more pivoted winged agitators and a slide operating in conjunction with one or more dischargeopenings in the hopper, the winged agitators and slide being operated by mechanism so arranged that the agitation of 7o the contents of the hopper is effected just in4 advance of the release of the same by the slide from the hopper, substantially as shown and described.

3.- In a can-filling apparatus, the combination, with the hopper provided with the discharge-openings c c, of the pivoted agitators d d, joined by the rod e, and provided with the tapering ends d2 (Il and the wings d (F, the rods fand k, the bell-crank lever g, the foot-treadle 11 and the spring z', substantially as shown and described.

4. In a can-filling apparatus, the combination, with the hopper provided with the discharge-openings c c, of the slide m, adapted to move in the recess l, and provided with the openings m m and lug m2, the rod o, with elongated eye o', the spring p, the bell-crank lever q, rod r, and foot-treadle h, substantially as shown and described.

5. The can filling apparatus consisting of the hopper, substantially as shown, having the discharge-openings c c, the pivoted agitators d d, having the wings d3 d, the mechanism for operating the agitators, as shown, the slide m, having the openings m m and lug m2, the rod o, with elongated slot o', in engagement with the lug m2, and the mechanism for moving the slide m and rod o, the entire apparatus being operated by the foot-treadle h, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREVS ROCKFELLOXV.

Witnesses:

AMMI H. CURTISS, OTTO HoDDicK.

IOO 

